Former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has backed United in the title race this season because of the fact that they have some great players like Michael Carrick.

He has also branded Carrick is the best English player right now. Carrick was brought to United in 2006 for around £ 18 million. He has gone on to win numerous accolades like the Champions League and the Premier league, but he has never been seen as a Paul Scholes replacement. He has done his best to change this perception in the last few years.

The English international missed the start of this campaign due to injury problems. His return to the starting line-up coincided with a significant improvement in form. United have suffered only one defeat since Carrick has been in the team. This good run of form has propelled them to just 10 points behind the table leaders Chelsea with more than half of the season remaining. Ferguson’s United have managed to claim the title from this position, and it may be one of the reasons for the Scot claiming that United still have an opportunity. A run of six straight victories was recently halted by a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa.

“They [United] have still got great players. I think Michael Carrick is the best centre midfield player in English football. I think he’s the best English player in the game. I think Robin van Persie, the World Cup has maybe taken a little bit out of him, but you watch him in the ­second half, he’ll be fine.Rooney is back flying and Rooney will always get you a goal and that’s always an advantage when a team has got a goalscorer in a team. And the one that’s most pleasing to me of the present lot is David de Gea,” said Ferguson.

The Manchester United legends Phil Neville and Ryan Giggs were all praise for their former boss Sir Alex Ferguson in their recent interview.

The two said that the 72-year old Scot would always remain a highly respected figure in their eyes.

Neville and Giggs spent almost their whole Manchester United career playing under Ferguson and they saw all the success there. From the league to the European Cup title, they won everything at Old Trafford.

Giggs retired in the middle of the last season to take the job of the interim manager at United, while, Neville retired a few months before him i.e. in the summer of 2013.

While, Giggs represented only the Red Devils throughout his career, Neville played for Everton too, but, his peak performances came at United only.

Giggs is associated with United even now. He is Louis Van Gaal’s assistant there currently. Neville was also supposed to take some kind of a coaching role after retirement, but, he has not done so as yet.

Giggs and Neville were together interviewed a couple of days back by an English daily and they were asked various questions about their United career there.

When asked about Ferguson, Giggs had this to say, “I used to see him as guardian and I give him the same amount of respect even today. He knows me inside out. He could just sense when I was not feeling comfortable about my game. He was a magical manager.”

Neville also hailed the legendary manager saying, “I think genius is the word for Sir Alex. He had that sense of calmness in him. He knew how to bring 100% out of a guy. Without his guidance, I don’t think it would have been possible for me to become as successful as I did.”

Louis Van Gaal disclosed yesterday that Sir Alex Ferguson had called him recently to wish him all the luck in his new job.

Van Gaal has taken over from David Moyes as Manchester United manager. He is known to be a manager quite similar to Ferguson. He also has a very strong personality and he likes to go about his business as he wants to without coming in the influence of the others.

Some people might say that Van Gaal is a bit too strict and at times, he tries to dictate terms, but, the truth is that he is a highly respected man in the managerial field and that’s why, he has been widely tipped to be successful at Old Trafford.

Everybody saw Van Gaal’s tactical brilliances in Brazil a couple of weeks ago. If he feels like making a certain move, he does that. He doesn’t think for a minute that if this particular move goes wrong, what would be the reaction among the fans. In short, he is a bold manager and United certainly needed one like that.

In one of his interviews, when Van Gaal was asked if he has had a chat with Ferguson since his appointment at Old Trafford, he said, “Yes, I have. He telephoned me the other day to convey his best wishes. We have a good tuning with each other. I would probably be meeting him soon and have a cup of coffee. He is a great man.”

When asked about the English media calling him an autocratic personality, Van Gaal said, “That hasn’t impressed me to be honest. Being strong is quite different from being autocratic, but, unfortunately, a few people don’t get that.”

There have been rumours flying in the British press that Sir Alex Ferguson who himself had chosen David Moyes as the man to succeed him at Old Trafford was responsible for his axe, but, that doesn’t appear to be the truth.

If the sources are to be believed, Sir Alex has even contacted Moyes and has made clear that it was entirely the board’s decision and he had nothing to do with it.

Most of the pundits and former players believe that Moyes deserved at least one more season at Old Trafford to prove his worth, but, the Glazers had other ideas. They thought that the Scot lost too many games to their likings and thus, they decided to get rid of him.

However, it’s not the axe which left Moyes disgusted. It’s actually the manner in which he was handed the axe. Before he was told or had any sort of idea about that, the news went into the media which made the situation embarrassing for him and he said that in his last press conference as the Red Devils boss. According to him, the club could have handled the situation in a far better way.

Apart from the pundits and the former players, Moyes is getting sympathy from some current Manchester United players as well. Wayne Rooney, Adnan Januzaj and some of the other guys are not happy with the way the boss got treated towards the end of his tenure.

The Red Devils have never been known for being impatient with the managers. Even Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t have that much success when he had started as manager at Old Trafford, but, he was stuck with by the board and he delivered eventually. People were expecting the same to happen with Moyes too, but, it wasn’t to be.

Ex Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson confesses that Drumchapel Amateurs are still embedded in his thoughts and his managerial stardom can be contributed just to them. He thanks the legend late Douglas Smith for helping him with life skills that has made him the man that he is today. Smith was a pioneer in his time, finding the Glasgow Club some sixty four years back, and encouraging amateur football players to try their luck in international football.

Sir, Ferguson in an effort to pay homage to the unappreciated hero of football, unveiled the portrait of the prodigy of Drum Chapel, Douglas Smith. The Old Trafford super manager, have gone up the ladder of success with a career laden with trophies but he recalls Smith, saying the real life lessons of discipline, not swearing, being competitive in ones game and cleanliness have been given much importance by him besides football. This is and always has been the code of success in Sir Ferguson’s life. He further added that he had learnt the lesson of punctuality from his father, hence courtesy him and Smith, he was always on time for everything till date.

The biggies of Scottish football, like John Robertson, Kenny Dalglish, Jim Cruickshank, Pat Crerand, John O’Hare, Tommy Craig, Archie Gemmill, Maurice Johnston, Asa Hartford etc are all a part of ex Drumchapel list. The current Manchester United coach Moyes too is part of the record, hence proving that Smith defiantly has made a mark.

Fergie insists that money never played a factor in Smith’s noble motive of building the career of young talented footballers. The focus was always on paying extra attention to detailing and quality time spent. He added that sure it helped because he was well to do, but the time he devoted to them was absolutely incredible.